Improvement in apparatus for the manufacture of iron



J. YATES. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFAGTUTE OF IRON.

No. 41,808. Patented Mar. 1, 1864.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

3 SheetsSheet 2.

J. YATES. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFAGTUTE OF IRON.

We. 41,808, Patented Mam-121, 1864.

M'mwaeg': 111116111011 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

cosnrn YATES, or MOTT HAVE-N, new YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON.

Specification forming part'of Letters Patent No. 4 L808, dated March I, 1864.

To all whom it may concerri: Be it known that I, J o snrn Yarns, of Mott Haven, inthe countyof Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Iron; and I-hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of an improved apparatus for making malleable or wrought iron direct from the ore, Ain said figurerepresenting a welding-furnace, B a reducingoven, and G the chimney. Figs.. 2 and 3 are two side elevations, and Figs. 4 and 5 are seetional views, of the same according to the lines (:4) and c d in Figs. 5 and 4, respectively.

The process of making iron directly from the ore is well understood in principle; The chemical agents which determine the conversion of the ore and the conditions under which -it is eflected have also been ascertained, and

yet this manufacture is carried on in but few. localities, and there in the most primitive manner; and all attempts at introducing this'manufacture in localities which do not offer precisely the same conditions of abundance of fuel and ore, and where economy is the sine qua non ofmanufaoture, have utterly failed. The numerous experimentswhich have been instituted from time to time to adapt this process by peculiar construction of apparatus to the ordinary conditions of an iron-producing country have demonstrated that success in this manufacture depends wholly upon the proper application of heat; and the great problem to be solved consists in the construction of a furnace in which the ore and the ingredients used in connection therewith to effect its reduction are exposed to the proper degree-of heat, and so that the same shall be perfectly under the control of the operator, enabling him to regulate the same at pleasure and according to cir cumstances.

In ,my improved apparatus, consisting of a welding-furnace, a reducing-oven, and a chimney, I have so -combined the parts constitu't ingthe same that the'lieat is distributed to effect in each the operation there to be performed.

The first part of my invention has for its particular obj cot so to convey the heated gases from one portionof the apparatus to the other that the gases or flame shall be expanded in the turning-fines for the purpose of preserving the flues in workingorder; also, to provide each reducing -chamber with the means of therein regulating the draftor pressure of the gases.

To this end the first part of my invention consists, first. in the employment, in combination with a reducing-oven having two or' more reduc1ng chambers superposed and heated by the flame or-gases derived from a welding-furnace, of a double or divided chimney, so that each chamber shall be provided with its own chimney or division of chimney,

which may or. may not intercommunicate at the'pleasure of the operator; secondly, in locating such double or divided chimney back of and in contiguity with the reducing-oven, the opening of communication of the chimney with the oven being arranged in relation to the partition or division walls, so as to allow ofthe expansion of the gases previous to their entering the reducing-chambers.

The object of the second part ofmy invention is to secure uniform temperature over and through the whole-reducing-table.

To this end the second part of my invention consists in forming the reducing-tables of flat arches made of refractory brick set edgewise, said brick being of uniform width, so that the arch shall be of uniform thickness throughout.

consists, first, in so locating thedivided chim- 'ney in relation tothe reducing-oven as that the flame and 'heated' gases shallbe diverted from the working-doors, and, secondly, in combining with a reducing-oven having :two laterally arranged series of reducing chambers a double or divided chimney located in contiguity with the oven and between the working=doors thereof;

invention,I shall briefly refer to the process of. manufacture, in conformity with which a furnace for making iron directly from the ore is to be constructed.

Iron ore, preferably such in which the oxide of iron is mixed with but little earthy matter To more fully appreciate the nature of my pulverized to a fineness resembling sea-sand, and mixed with from twenty to twenty-five per centum of pulverized charcoal or bituminous coal, is exposed to a certain high degree of temperature in a medium i 0111 which free oxygen is carefully excluded. The particles of iron ore thus placed in contact with a material emitting carbureted vapors while exposed to a high temperature will he speedily reduced. The deoxidized metal is then in a state of great division, and disseminated among the earthy matter and the residue of unconsumed coal. To effect the union of these iron particles the mass is exposed to a welding heat, and the particles are. caused to agglutinate, to form a ball, together with scoria or earthy matter in fusion, which latter is finally expelled by the action of the squeezer and hammer. The reduction proper is a very delicate operation, and it is upon this stage of the process that failure or success mostly depends. I t

From the above it will be understood that the temperature at which the reduction is effected is high, yet it is important that it should 7 not be such as to cause the earthy matter mixed with the ore to enter in fusion, because they will have a tendency to retain in their vitreous mass the unreduced oxideof iron, and form a slag rich in 'iron, and thusjbe productive of much waste. Now,'in an apparatus in which the whole process of making iron -directly from the' oreliscarried on with but one-fire,

the same flame which is to producewel'ding heat in one-part of the apparatus 'is"'al'so to.. produce the heat requisite 'to reduce the ore' in another part .of the apparatus; hence the necessity of and difliculties in so constructing the apparatus as'that the heat-shall be duly tempered and regulated.

The reduction of the ore is efi'ected in my improved apparatus in an oven erected on columns at such elevation and position in relation to the welding-furnace or heat-generator as that the heat radiated or otherwise conveyed from the latter shall not injuriously affeet the structure of the oven, and that fresh air may surround and freely circulate about the same. The even is divided into chambers called reducing-chambers, which are 'formed, as shown in the accompanying'drawings, of flat arches thrown ,from the-exterior side walls, G, to a middle wall, W, common to both. These arches constitute the reducing-tables, and it is upon these tables that the :ore and coal mixture is spread while exposed to the action of. the heated gases passing over and under the said tables. In former attempts at making iron directly from the ore great difficulty was experienced in constructing these tables. They were generally plane'surfaced, arched underneath, so that the table was thin in the center, of gradually increasing thickness toward its supporting-walls, and the consequence was that the ore was reduced along a middle strip much sooner than upon the other portions of the table, which necessitated constant stirring; but by frequently stirring the mass air was necessarily admitted, which occasioned the reoxidation of metal already deoxidized. By making the tables but slightly arched I am enabled to make them of uniform thickness throughout, and thus to and second tables-by means of two apertures,

I J, in the outer wall, K, of the reducing-oven,

the one above -and the other below the first reducing-table, and both communicating with the interior of a chimney whose top orifice is furnished with a damper, L, so that when closed' the gases issuing from under the table not ableto escape through the'chimney will be compelled to pass into the reducing-chamber abo've the table. The gases are now forced to pass over the edge M. of the upper table, and are caused to travel along its upper surface, finally to issue at the orifice N into a.

chimney, also provided with a damper.

Instead of having two separate chimneys--- one for each reducing-chamber--I use a singlev chimney divided by a vertical transverse wall-i. e'., a wall running across the chimney parallel with the back wall of the oven. This vertical division-wall is supported by an arch, 1 1?, which forms a horizontal partitidn on a level with the upper reducing-table, cutting off direct communication between the two divisions- If a double oven be used,as that shown in the accompanying drawings, the chimney is located in the middle of the back wall of the oven, and is divided by a vertical partition-wall in continuation of that in the re-.

ducing-oven, and extending from top to bottom of the chimney. By this arrangement the current, pressure, and temperature of the flame and gases may be regulated. If, for instance, the pressure and temperature be too great, it is simply necessaryto ease the valves on top ofthe chimney, and if for some cause or other itbe expedient to divertthe current of the gases anddischarge without allowing them to enter .either chamber, it is only required to lopen the damper L. Another advanta'g'e'liii' f'd this arrangement consists in the expansion of gases at that point where by sudden contraction they. would be condensed and develop heat, that would soon melt away the fines or orifices for the passage of the gases to and from the chambers. Thus by allowing the gases to expand in the chimney and at the,

turning-pcintsthey will not overheat the narrow fines through which they are forced to pass. a r

The working-doors through which the operator observes the operation and'from time to time stirs the mass, so as to expose all or nearly all the particles to the action of the deoxidizing-fiame, and when deoxidized dis charges the same'from off the tables, are located centrally in relation to the tables, and

the position of the chimney and the-fines leading into it is so determined as that the gases shall be diverted from the working-door and present no impediment to the operator watching the progress of the work, stirring the mass,

follows:

1. The employment, in combination with a reducing-oven having two or more reducingchambers superposed and heatedby the flame.

or gases derived from a welding-furnace, of a double or divided chimney, so that each chamber shall be provided with its own chimney or division of chimney, which may or maynot iutercommunicate at the pleasure of the operator, substantially as herein set forth.

2. Locating such double or divided chimney back of and in contiguity with the reducingoven, the openings of communication of the chimney with the oven being arranged in relation to the partition or division walls, so as to allow of the expansion of gases previous to their entering the reducing-chambers, substantially as herein set forth.

3. The arched reducing tables formed of refraetory brick of uniform'width, set edgewise or otherwise, so that the same shall be of uniform thickness throughout, substantiallyas set forth.

4. So locating the divided chimney'in relation to the reducing oven as that the flame and heated gases'jshallbe diverted from the working-doors, substantially as herein set forth;

5. Combining with'a-redueing-oven hating two laterally arranged series of reducingin eontiguity with the oven and-between the working-doors thereof, substantially as herein set forth In testimony whereof I have signed my name ,to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH YATES. XVitnesses;

A; POLLAK, 0. BROWN.

chambers, a double divided chimney located 

